Heralds Digest

  “ But many who are first will be last, and the last first .” ‭‭Matthew‬ ‭ 19:30 ‬ ‭NKJV‬‬ https://www.bible.com/114/mat.19.30.nkjv The closing remark of Jesus Christ must provoke a sober reflection within the camp of His disciples. While Peter had earlier expressed his concern about the plights of the disciples to the expressed challenge of getting into the kingdom of heaven, Jesus assured the disciples that the impossibility is only with man. Everyone who left all to follow Him cannot be left out. But...” many who are first will be last, and the last first ”. That implies that many who started by leaving all others to follow Jesus are still in danger of distraction. Obviously, it is not the starting that matters...it is the finishing. Following Jesus requires holding on on Him as the Anchor and Finisher of our faith, even when all else in this world appear to be providing a useful anchor. Money, comfort, accomplishments, companionships, pleasure, promotion, etc, does provide a u...

  “At that time the disciples came to Jesus, saying, “Who then is greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” Then Jesus called a little child to Him, set him in the midst of them, and said, “Assuredly, I say to you, unless you are converted and become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore whoever humbles himself as this little child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.” ‭‭Matthew‬ ‭18:1-4‬ ‭NKJV‬‬ https://www.bible.com/114/mat.18.1-4.nkjv One of the major mistakes in the pursuit of lowliness is its misconception for mediocrity, laziness, or idleness. Whereas, the pursuit of greatness in life, career, and ministry is not a sin. The only caution here is the motive for this desire in the heart. When the disciples asked Jesus “Who then is greatest in the kingdom of heaven?”, the wrong motive was clear: “If not me, who then can be?”. Becoming greater to serve greatly is always better than the desire to be served greater. Therefore, Jesus illustrat...

  “For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.” ‭‭Matthew‬ ‭ 16:25 ‬ ‭NKJV‬‬ https://www.bible.com/114/mat.16.25.nkjv Life is apparently meaningless without the pursuit of things relating to self, like wealth, fame, comfort, recognition, etc. The protection these self-centred lift of interests is mostly the major consideration in all decision-making processes. Even when the disciples of Jesus had the privilege of providing counsel to Jesus on His planned submission to the Cross, they opted for the conservative interest on the basis of their continued companionship with the Saviour. ‘What is in this for me (or my loved ones)?’ is often the finality of all considerations in life, compared to ‘What is in this for God’?. Therefore, Jesus responded with a superior consideration: ‘whoever loses his life for My(selfless) sake will find it’. In pursuit of an absolute will of God or a selfless sake, there must be the willingness to...

  “And when Jesus went out He saw a great multitude; and He was moved with compassion for them, and healed their sick.” ‭‭Matthew‬ ‭ 14:14 ‬ ‭NKJV‬‬ https://www.bible.com/114/mat.14.14.nkjv The major forte of ministerial outreaches is the concept of reaching out with the gospel of salvation. While there is no doubt about the need of salvation as the heartbeat of God, Jesus here taught His disciples the wholesomeness of compassion in the work of soul-winning. And [throughout the entire chapter and encounter of the Saviour with both the multitude and His disciples] when Jesus went out, He saw a great multitude. Seeing the targets in all of believers’ outreaches must come first before reaching out to them. It provides the opportunity for soul-winners to understand the major area of needs, and how best to engage the available resources towards meeting these needs. If we cannot earn the respect as a listener to people’s problems, how can we possibly earn the right to be listened to as t...

  “Now He did not do many mighty works there because of their unbelief.” ‭‭Matthew‬ ‭ 13:58 ‬ ‭NKJV‬‬ https://www.bible.com/114/mat.13.58.nkjv The experience of Nazareth here is a common phenomenon: Familiarity brings contempt. For Jesus Christ of Nazareth, the contempt comes from the people’s knowledge of His biological background and family relationships. However, it is important to note that the people’s unbelief only affect their faith to receive and not God’s power to release. Likewise with all of God’s promises in life, career and ministry, the faithfulness of our nice God to His promises is easily frustrated by our nasty ‘Nazareth’. How nasty is our disobedience to simple instructions from God and His chosen leaders over us? Too familiar to respect, right? Unfortunately, we pay dearly to follow complex instructions from irrelevant mentors while the simple instructions from the assigned channels for our divine intervention are disregarded. ‘There shall be shower of blessings’...

  “At that time Jesus answered and said, “I thank You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and prudent and have revealed them to babes.” ‭‭Matthew‬ ‭ 11:25 ‬ ‭NKJV‬‬ https://www.bible.com/114/mat.11.25.nkjv Beyond the pride of diligence, discipline, and the determination of human intelligence is the discovery of true rest. Even in ministerial accomplishments, babes in Christ have a superior access to divine inspiration by the Holy Spirit, just for their coming. Unfortunately, beside the loss of the undiscerned and sinful minds, the privileges of ‘babes’ in Christ are equally lost by the wise and prudent in spiritual understanding. Whereas, if Christ can sincerely appreciate the Father for His reserved revelation to ‘babes’, there must be privileges in ‘babes’ that should be reserved by matured believers. The fact is that no matter the exposure and experience of the supposedly matured believers in the Lord, the ‘babes’ mindset keeps thei...

  “Then He said to His disciples, “The harvest truly is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest.”” ‭‭Matthew‬ ‭9:37-38‬ ‭NKJV‬‬ https://www.bible.com/114/mat.9.37-38.nkjv The experiences of labourers during the planting season often prepares the expectation of the hearts from the harvest season. In reality, the pain from planting and the stress of the seedtime do wear heaviness on the minds; and nothing related to the heaviness on the field of harvest. When Jesus told His disciples “The harvest truly is plentiful”, He quipped to remove the heaviness on the minds of potential labourers for the field of harvest. The only way the mind process its series of disappointment and discouragement on the planting field, or during the planting season of life (career development, business investment, evangelistic outreaches, child parenting, etc), is the wearing of though skin and a veil that cannot reveal any good from t...